The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1887-02-25
THE Farm.
"Blooded Stock"

at it's last meeting. The host, Mr.. S.
R. Carson, led off by an essay advocat-
ing the raising of thorough bred stock,
advising his brother members to sell off
their scrub herds and start anew with
improved breeds. The essay did not
discriminate very nicely whether the
advice was intended to apply to horses
or cattle, but treated the tive classes
INTERCHANGEABLE. The essay. however,
answered the design of the writer by
bringing out the sentiment of the mem
bers, and strange-though not strange
either to those who have studied the
bent of the average farmers prejudices
and conservative habits-that nearly all
the members were half way in their
opinions, almost all preferring grades"
The old family love of the scrubs" is
so constitutionalIy strong, that they
could not bring themselves up to the
radical point of letting go of him alto
gether. They lovingly held his tail to
shake regretful and parting good-by.
Saying, ''you have been SO long in the
family, haye been kind and faithful
servant to our fathers and grand.fath-
ers! You nobly braved the icy blasts Of
winter, living on straw and husks,
sheltered in the fence corners. and went
bravely out to the woods as soon as the
snow was gone in March, to return fill.
ed to distention with succulent buds
gathered from the warm hollows, and
you shifted for yourself after that
through the long summer and fall till
Christmas, without any care from your
master. My dear old scrub, though
become worthless as profitable insti-
tuition I am bound to thee still by the
strong cords of family ties"
AS it has become impossible to de-
fend the scrub, as scrub, simon pure
and unadulterated the most of the
members were willing to compromise on
one half A grade they commended was
much better than thorough bred for
all purposes, which is to say the half is
better than the whole. In stock bred
ing parlance grade is mule. You
can't breed grade from grade. If
an attempt is made to breed from grades
they will inevitably return to the worst of
scrubs in a few years. The only way to
have grades that are either good look
ing or profitable is to cross scrub COW
with thorough blooded bull This
rule applies to all the three other races,
horses, sheep and swine. If you
breed grade cow to thorough bred
bull, the stock is brought up toward the
sire's family, and the fourth or fifth
generation is thorough bred, having
lost the scrub blood; and vice versa. IF
grades are to be maintained for their
reputed excellence, herd of pure
scrubs must be kept, with a thorough
bred male at the head, and this is in
fnitely more trouble than to breed
steadily toward perfection. Farmers
who attempt this grade business, are
sure to find they have much more scrub
blood in their herds than Of the "blue
Blood with no two animals alike in
any respect. Rev. Mr.. Squire, who is
always logical if he has to call in
sophistry to assist him, would prefer
grades and combine the good qualities
of both. In this the Rev. gentleman
builded wiser than he knew. That is
the way all our thorough breds social
ed, have been made. And how many
have the genius to accomplish this? In
hundred years Blackwell is the only
man who has been gifted with the gen.
Jus to do this and he died with his Sc
cret unrevealed.
The only "good qualities" the scrub
possesses discernable to the farmers
eyes are health and hardness, which
will withstand neglect and poor fare.
AS there is no money in these, they
will not pay to cultivate alone. If
there is any other merit In the average
scrub, the genius Of Blackwell alone
could extract and transmit it. The or
binary farmer cannot by grade breed
ing. The irresistible power Impractical
demonstration has forced the farmers to
take one advanced step, and reach the
grade; let the members of the Club set
wise example to their brother farmers,
take another step and place themselves
by the side of Mr.. Carson and keep
only thorough bred males at the head
of their herds. They will erelong, if
this practice is riUidly adhered TO leave